This invention relates to a locking collar for a passenger seat back recline assembly. Passenger seat frames are constructed from modular sets of components designed to be lightweight and conformable to various aircraft cabin conditions. The lower seat chassis is constructed of leg modules. The upper seat chassis is constructed of section assembly modules. The leg modules and section assembly modules are assembled by attachment to lateral tubular beam elements to form a ladder frame assembly, a seat bottom and a seat back are mounted to the ladder frame assembly to form the passenger seat. The seat back typically includes a recline unit which allows the seat back to be moved between relatively upright and reclined positions for passenger comfort and ingress/egress requirements. The location of the section assembly modules is controlled by the aircraft fuselage lines and statutory aisle requirements. The section modules carry pivots for both sides of the seat back and an additional pivot on one side to carry the reaction loads of the recline unit of the seat back.
Due to large variations in the amount of space allowed by various air carriers for passenger occupancy, it is presently necessary to make three sizes of seat back and to provide some form of variation in spacing between the sides of the seat backs and the adjacent section assembly modules. This is normally done by manufacturing specific components that locate the seat back and hold it between the section assembly modules. These components vary from installation to installation.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a locking collar for passenger seat back recline assembly.
It is another object of the invention to provide a locking collar which is easily locked to a pivot member.
It is another object of the invention to provide a locking collar which may be made in varying thicknesses.
It is another object of the invention to provide a locking collar which permits easy and quick adaptation of aircraft seat spacing to accommodate aircraft seat spacing and aisle requirements.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved in the preferred embodiments disclosed below by providing a passenger seat back recline assembly, comprising a seat bottom chassis including a plurality of leg modules and section assembly modules, a plurality of beam elements carrying the leg modules and section assembly modules in spaced-apart relation to each other to define a ladder frame assembly, a seat back unit pivotally-mounted between two of the section assembly modules for permitting the angle of the seat back relative to the seat bottom chassis to be varied as desired by the passenger, a recline unit for controlling movement of the seat back and locking the seat back in a desired recline position, an occupant-activated seat back recline control for maintaining the seat back in a normally-locked condition relative to the seat bottom chassis and for permitting the occupant to release the normally-locked condition of the cylinder assembly by activating the seat back recline control to thus permit movement of the seat back to a desired position and deactivating the seat back recline control to lock the seat back in the desired position. Respective first and second pivot tubes are provided on which the fluid cylinder assembly is mounted, the first and second pivot tubes being positioned in respective first and second pivot holes formed in the section assembly module. First and second locking spacer collars are positioned in surrounding position on respective first and second pivot tubes intermediate the section assembly module and the seat back unit pivoted thereto.
According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the first and second collars include an attachment device for locking the respective first or second collar to the section assembly module against both axial and radial movement relative thereto.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the attachment devices each comprise an elongate member positioned through an attachment hole in the collar and a mating attachment hole formed in the section assembly module.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the elongate members each comprise a screw.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, each the collar is pear-shaped and the attachment hole therein is radially offset from the pivot hole therein.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the section assembly module includes a stepped surface underlying the attachment hole in each of the first and second collars whereby when the portion of each of the collars surrounding the respective pivot hole is in contact with the section assembly module, the portion of the collar surrounding the pivot hole is spaced-apart from the attachment hole in the section assembly module, and by tightening the attachment member, each of the collars is deflected inwardly towards the respective attachment screw hole in the section assembly module and locked against the respective pivot tubes.
A method according to an embodiment of the invention for securing a passenger seat recline assembly to a passenger seat section assembly module comprises the steps of providing a seat bottom chassis including a plurality of leg modules and section assembly modules, a plurality of beam elements carrying the leg modules and section assembly modules in spaced-apart relation to each other to define a ladder frame assembly, and a seat back unit pivotally-mounted between two of the section assembly modules for permitting the angle of the seat back relative to the seat bottom chassis to be varied as desired by the passenger.
A recline unit is provided for controlling movement of the seat back and locking the seat back in a desired recline position, and an occupant-activated seat back recline control is provided for maintaining the seat back in a normally-locked condition relative to the seat bottom chassis and for permitting the occupant to release the normally-locked condition of the cylinder assembly by activating the seat back recline control to thus permit movement of the seat back to a desired position and deactivating the seat back recline control to lock the seat back in the desired position. Respective first and second pivot tubes are provided on which the fluid cylinder assembly is mounted. The first and second pivot tubes are positioned in respective first and second pivot holes formed in the section assembly module. First and second locking spacer collars are positioned in surrounding position on respective first and second pivot tubes intermediate the section assembly module and the seat back unit pivoted thereto. A stepped surface is formed in the section assembly module underlying the attachment hole in each of the first and second collars whereby when the portion of each of the collars surrounding the respective pivot hole is in contact with the section assembly module, the portion of the collar surrounding the pivot hole is spaced-apart from the attachment hole in the section assembly module. By tightening the attachment member of each of the collars, the collars are deflected inwardly towards the respective attachment screw hole in the section assembly module and thereby locking the collars against the respective pivot tubes.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the method includes the step of providing collars in thicknesses specific to a particular installation for varying the seat width and spacing without the necessity of varying the design or size of other components.